Abstract
The Mt. Erciyes stratovolcano was built up in an intraplate tectonic environment as a consequence of Eurasian and Afro-Arabian continental collision. However, the volcanic products generally exhibit a calc-alkaline character; minor amounts of tholeiitic basalts are also present. Tholeiitic basalts show high Fe2O3, MgO, CaO, low K2O, and depleted Ba, Nb, and especially Rb (2.3-5.97 ppm) contents, low 87Sr/86Sr (0.703344-0.703964), and high 143Nd/144Nd (0.512920-0.512780) isotopic ratios. These compositional features show that they were derived from a depleted asthenospheric mantle source, possibly a MORB-like source component. In contrast, calc-alkaline basaltic rocks exhibit relatively high large-ion-lithophile and high-field-strength elements, high 87Sr/86Sr (0.704591-0.70507) and low 143Nd/144Nd (0.51272-0.512394) isotopic ratios. The bulk-rock chemistry of the tholeiitic basalts reflects the chemical composition of the extracted source component. Furthermore, trace-element concentrations may be calculated from an accepted mantle source component (starting composition) for different degrees of partial melting. These calculations also provide a sensitive approach to the origin of tholeiitic basalts. Modeled trace-element compositions of tholeiitic basalts are calculated from a primitive mantle composition. Calculated trace-element compositions imply that tholeiitic basalts are derived by minor fractional melting (1-1.5 %), in the absence of assimilation or deep-crustal melting. The calc-alkaline basalts were subsequently produced from initially tholeiitic basalts by the way of an AFC (assimilation-fractional crystallization) process, with a crustal assimilation of 10-15 %. The geochemical data, partial melting, and AFC modeling all indicate that basaltic products have a complex evolutionary history involving partial melting from a MORB-like mantle source. The assimilation and fractional crystallization processes are considered as providing an example for the chemical evolution of basaltic products, from tholeiitic to calc-alkaline, in an intraplate environment.
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